Ag markets were narrowly mixed Tuesday night

Corn futures skidded slightly Tuesday night. Talk of excellent weather and a huge fall harvest continue weighing upon the crop markets. However, ideas that recent losses have triggered renewed interest from buyers seems to be limiting losses at this point, with traders also citing oversold conditions for their interest in bottom picking. September corn slipped 0.25 cent to $3.60/bushel shortly after sunrise Wednesday, while December dipped 0.5 cent to $3.6775.

Talk of growing export demand is supporting beans and meal. The industry is certainly anticipating a massive soybean crop this fall. However, beans and meal remain hot export commodities, as exemplified by recent news of daily sales. However, fresh weakness in Asian palm oil prices is once again depressing soyoil quotes. August soybean futures gained 2.75 cents to $11.8675/bushel Tuesday night, while November futures added 3.0 to $10.6075. August soyoil slid 0.04 cents to 35.89 cents/pound, whereas August soymeal rose $2.1 to $383.9/ton.

The wheat markets also remain weak. The winter wheat harvest is winding down, but it’s probably still exerting downward pressure upon the Chicago and KC markets. Meanwhile, the spring wheat crop looks quite good, so Minneapolis is getting little relief either. Still, various reports point to growing buyer interest in the golden grain in the wake of recent losses. September CBOT wheat inched 0.25 cent lower to $5.2425/bushel early Wednesday morning, while September KC wheat stalled at $6.2125/bushel, and September MWE wheat sagged 0.25 cent to $6.185.

Record beef quotes sparked fresh CME cattle buying. Talk of surging beef prices likely powered Tuesday’s big cattle and feeder advance. In fact, Tuesday’s late reports put choice cutout values at a fresh all-time high, which probably encouraged the bullish follow-through seen last night. August live cattle climbed 0.40 cents to 156.35 cents/pound as Wednesday dawned over Chicago, while December edged up 0.07 cents to 158.00. Meanwhile, August feeder futures leapt 1.47 cents to 217.50 cents/pound and October feeders jumped 1.52 to 218.42.

Cash and wholesale weakness are again weighing on CME hogs. Given their sizeable discounts to recent spot quotes, it wasn’t terribly surprising to see hog futures follow the cattle market higher Tuesday. However, the cash and wholesale markets posted substantial losses yesterday afternoon, thereby causing an overnight reversal. August hog futures tumbled 0.97 cents to 126.60 cents/pound early Wednesday morning, while December fell 0.30 cents to 104.20.

Cotton futures are trying to establish a bottom. Prospects for a large U.S. cotton crop have been dragged ICE prices downward in recent weeks, but the market has worked slightly higher this week. Diminished Texas growing conditions have sparked some interest, while reports of mill interest are also becoming more common. December cotton rallied 0.38 cents to 68.29 cents per pound in early Wednesday action, while March futures advanced 0.34 to 68.90 cents/lb.